Best Windows 8 apps this week

Ninety-first in a series. Windows Store saw some great releases this week, including a fantastic looking shooter from Gameloft, a cute racing game in the style of Micro Machines, and an excellent action RPG optimized for touch-input.

In other news, the notebook app Bamboo Paper has been released for Windows 8. To celebrate this, all premium writing and drawing tools are free of charge for the time being. Make sure you download them while they are free if you like the application.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Here is this week's selection of apps and games

Red Stripe Deals

Six apps and games are discounted by at least 50 percent each week. The following applications are available at a discount this week.

Darkness Ray is a game that you can only play on touch-supporting devices effectively. While you can use the mouse to control movement and attacks, you cannot do both at the same time which means that you will get hit a lot and have to do a lot of adjusting as well if you play it with a mouse.

The game falls into the action RPG genre and plays similar to games such as Diablo 2, Torchlight 2 or Path of Exile even though it is not as complex as these games.

The game is all about fighting enemies in dungeons. You move around in a great looking environment and have one standard attack and three special attacks at your disposal to deal with enemies.

Big Business Deluxe is a simulation game in which you strive to become a business tycoon.

You start from humble beginnings and need to work your way up the food chain by producing and manufacturing goods, developing infrastructure, expanding the city to increase the workforce and a lot more.

The game is quest based and you will gain experience while you are playing which improves your level and unlocks new opportunities.

The game is free to play but supports in-app purchases. Not only are players limited by time and energy, some buildings can only be purchased with credits instead of coins.

Still, it is an interesting game and if you don't mind waiting or paying, you will certainly enjoy playing it.